Page 91 of Worth the Risk

“That Alto Pietro should get a package, the contents of which he’ll find enlightening.” Only Cap didn’t make this suggestion. Dan did.

Bella shook her head. “He’ll be furious. War would break out.”

“From what I’ve read, he’s a cool, methodical man who will do what he needs to do without taking it to war.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, but she knew.

She’d never been directly involved, but, growing up, she would hear whispers about someone in the family one week—none of them good—and the next, she was attending their funeral. It didn’t happen often, but regularly enough that even though her mother tried to insulate her from the nastiest family business, she noticed.

“No,” she whispered. “There must be another way.”

Dan’s hand closed around hers. “You said he’d never give up, which means he’s got to be taken down. Letting the Pietros know about what he did, which changed the course of their family history, is the easiest way of making that happen.”

“Never go against the family,” Dex quietly stated.

Cap’s laser-focused gaze seared into hers. “Would you rather deal with Lorenzo directly?”

She sat back, shaking her head as she gripped Dan’s hand like a lifeline.

“Or turn a nearly thirty-year-old murder case with only a picture and a birth certificate to go on, over to the cops?”Angie suggested. Her skepticism about the success of that plan was clear in her tone.

“Look at me, baby.” When she raised her wary eyes to his, Dan leaned in close and spoke openly and honestly, as was their pact. “These are the best options as we see them to eliminate the threat on your life for good. And frankly, I won’t lose sleep over a man who killed your father and countless others pursuing power, not to mention he shot you then sent his thugs to take you out. You’ve been on the run, living in fear for a year, beautiful. That ends now.”

Silence followed. They all seemed in agreement. The only hesitancy was hers.

Cap stated quietly. “We’d like your agreement on this, Bella.”

“She agrees,” Dan replied.

But Cap and the others waited for her to weigh in.

Seconds ticked by until she nodded. “It’s time for me to stop running.”

Although he’d obviously had no qualms when he’d done it to her, signing Lorenzo’s death warrant with her approval of the plan made her blood run cold.

Dan’s phone rang. He frowned when he checked the screen. “It’s the Austin PD,” he said, surprised. “I should take this.”

He squeezed her hand then stepped away from the table. He’d barely started speaking, when everyone’s phones started alarming, the discordant, grating sound familiar. Bella’s went off, too. It was an Amber Alert.

San Antonio—13-year-old boy abducted from Legacy Park. 5’ 7”, Blue-gray eyes, last seen wearing a green and white soccer uniform, number 12, and team logo on the front—the Spartans. Answers to the name Caden Ogilvie.

Her head came up, as did every man’s at the table, and Angie looking ghostly pale. They glanced her way then focused on Dan who wasn’t reading the alert but talking on the phone.

“Are you certain it was Caden?” He listened, head down, his hand wrapped around the back of his neck, a tormented expression overtaking his handsome face. “No, I haven’t received a ransom request.”

“I have,” a deep voice resonant voice announced. Dan turned, as did everyone else to see Cap holding up his phone with the screen containing a text message facing them. “It’s Paulo Giordano. Asking for a meet.”

“Goddamn mobsters have my son!” Dan exclaimed, his voice raw with fear. “Where and when do they want to see me?”

“Not you.” Cap’s eyes cut to Bella.

“They want me,” she said, stating the obvious.

“No fucking way!” Dan roared. “Then the bastards will have two people I love.”

Angie quietly rose and slipped the phone from his hand. “Detective, I’m Angie Hixson, a colleague of Mr. Ogilvie’s. We’ve got a situation,” she told the Austin police as she walked out of the room.

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